Ray Collishaw

WWI Canadian Ace, Sopwith Triplane Pilot

A native of Nanaimo, British Columbia,
Raymond Collishaw grew up close to the sea's distinct call, and as a
teenager worked as a cabin boy on a Canadian Fisheries Protection
Service ship, that plied between British Columbia and Alaska. He served
on the Alcedo when it searched the Arctic for Vilhamur
Stefansson's Karluk. By age 22, he was First Officer on the Fispa.

When war broke out Ray chose
the Royal Naval Air Service, as did many other Canadians at that
time.

He qualified as a pilot by January 1916, and
spent the next
eight months flying naval patrols along the Channel, or spotting for
navy guns off Dunkirk. In late August he was transferred to Number
3 Wing of the R.N.A.S. that was billeted at Ochey, a short distance
behind the Allied trenches. Here he began to fly Sopwith 1½
Strutters
and was part of the famous raid on the Mauser Arms Works at Oberndorf,
flying as escort for
the bombers. It was during this epic raid that Ray scored his first
victory when he downed the future ace Ludwig Hanstein. That was on
October 12, and on
October 25 he scored a "double" over Luneville.

While ferrying a 1½ Strutter, six Albatroses jumped him;
their bullets smashed his instrument panel and goggles, partially
blinding him. As he dove for the deck, one of the Albatroses tried to
follow him, and crashed into the trees. A second over-ran him, and he
shot it down with an accurate burst. Without instruments and barely
able to see, he landed at a promising field, only to be greeted by
German ground crewmen. He immediately took off again, and managed to
locate a French field near Verdun. For this impressive flight, the
French awarded him the Croix de
Guerre.

In February 1917 he was a member of Number 3 Naval Squadron
that was operating with the British Army near the Cambrai front.

Number 10 Naval Squadron

Over the next two months he shot down another enemy plane and
he was moved on to become a flight commander with Number 10
Naval Squadron located at Dunkirk, where for a time he did naval
reconnaissance and gun-spotting for the Royal Navy. It was during
this interval that he downed four more enemy planes.

Number 10 Naval Squadron was next moved down to the British
front and both Numbers 8 and 10 Naval squadrons were given the
new Sopwith triplane, a machine none of the RFC squadrons liked.
They felt that this particular Sopwith was not structurally
satisfactory for the heavy air fighting experienced in this section of
France,
and although it was a fast climber and apparently most maneuverable, it
was fitted with but one machine gun. The RNAS boys,
however, took to it immediately, and Collishaw personally hand-
picked four other Canadian pilots to work with him. They were Flight
Sub-lieutenants Ellis Reid of Toronto, J. E. Sharman of Winnipeg,
Gerald Nash of Hamilton, and Melville Alexander, also of Toronto.
All these pilots were in their early twenties and keen on air fighting.

Black Flight

Collishaw next conceived the idea of painting his flight of
triplanes
midnight black, a gesture that would not have been tolerated in the
R.F.C., but Ray had his way and to add an even more individual
touch all five planes were given special names. Collishaw's became
Black Maria. Reid flew Black Roger. Sharman's was named Black
Death. Nash's was known as Black Sheep, and Alexander's as Black
Prince. Obviously, they would have to put on a rare show to justify
this individuality.

On the Ypres front where the Von Richthofen Circus was supposed
to be supreme, the black triplanes went wild. Four enemy scouts went
down before Collishaw's single gun in five days, and all his mates
racked up victories. By June 6 Ray had registered his sixteenth
success. Then on June 26 the Black Flight sustained its first loss when
Lieutenant Nash went down during a melee with the Von Richthofen
Circus, but he landed safely in the enemy lines and destroyed his
machine before he was captured.

The next day Collishaw went out to look for the Circus, and after
scouting around he came upon a formation of gaudily painted Jerries.
The four black triplanes searched for a German who had
flown a green-striped ship. Collishaw spotted him, and with rare skill
cut him away from the Circus formation. The two ships were apparently
evenly matched, but Collishaw was the more determined, and
while they were circling over Lille, he finally sent the green-striped
Albatros crashing down on the old fortifications outside the city.
While the other members of Black Flight were downing three more
pilots of the Circus they noted a blood-red Albatros flying about
2000 feet above the fighting. This pilot stayed up there and apparently
did nothing to help the Circus formation.

The man in the red Albatros may, or may not, have been Von
Richthofen, but the pilot who died in the green-striped Albatros was
Leutnant Karl Allmenroder, victor in thirty contests, and at the
time the second highest ranking ace in Jagdstaffel II. But Ray
Collishaw had no fear of any German, ace or neophyte. In the first
twelve days of July he added twelve more to his bag, and by July 30
when his score stood at thirty-seven, he was ordered away from
the front and sent home on a long leave. Black Flight was disbanded,
and the pilots were assigned to other squadrons.

Number 3 Naval Squadron

By mid-November
Collishaw was back again, and given command of Number 13 Naval
Squadron. By December first he had added to his score by downing
two German seaplanes and an L.V.G. two-seater.

Number 203 Squadron

By January, 1918, he had moved over to No 3 Naval Sqn. When the
Royal
Air Force was formed in April 1918, No 3 Naval Sqn of the RNAS became
No 203 Sqn of the RAF. Collishaw was promoted to major and given
command of No 203 Sqn,
that was flying Sopwith Camels. In the next four months, flying
against the best the enemy could put into the skies, Ray accounted for
twenty more, ten of which were the vaunted Fokker D-VII. He
scored "doubles" on seven occasions, and his decorations now included
the D.S.O., D.F.C., and the D.S.C. On October 1 Ray was
again taken out of the line and sent to England where, with Billy
Bishop, Andy McKeever and other Canadian airmen, plans were
being made for a Royal Canadian Air Force.

He finished World War One with 62 victories to his credit,
including shared and out-of-control claims. (On a basis comparable with
WW2 credits, his score would have been 28.5.)

Russia

Unlike most others, Ray stayed with the RAF after the
Armistice, and
took
command of an Allied air unit that went to the aid of the White cause
under General Anton I. Denikin who was trying to oust the
Bolsheviks from Russia.

It was an ugly war: typhus threatened both sides, civilians
were
killed wantonly. And an odd war, too. At one point Collishaw and his
Camels mercilessly strafed a large Red cavalry unit they caught in the
open. Despite Allied help, such as the RAF units, the Red forces
steadily pushed the Whites back. Collishaw and his fliers abandoned
their planes and barely escaped in an epic train trip. They re-grouped
in the Crimea and Ray flew more missions. By the time the British
pulled out of the hopeless civil war, he had destroyed two aircraft,
two trains, and a gunboat.

When the Russian White Army collapsed in 1920 Collishaw was
brought back to England, given a tropical uniform, and sent out to
Persia with Number 84 Squadron where the Bolsheviks were menacing a
British protectorate. He was still flying Camels, and by April
1921 was in Mesopotamia for service against insurgent Arabs. Here
he was raised to the rank of Wing Commander.

World War Two

Collishaw remained with the RAF, and was in action again from
1939 on. Now he was in command of a Fleet Air Arm Fighter Group
that swarmed off Royal Navy aircraft carriers. He served all through
World War II with distinction but little publicity. This is strange as
most Canadians, like Americans, were publicity conscious throughout
both world conflicts, but they somehow failed to do justice to the man
who did so much for his service over so many years. Many feel he should
be awarded the Victoria Cross, even at this late date.

Many original period photos, including a unique one of King
George V inspecting RAF pilots (Ira 'Taffy' Jones among them) in
August, 1918. After a chronological summary of British aerial combat in
World War One, the book offers short biographies of over 50 Empire
pilots: from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, South Africa,
New Zealand, and Australia.